A machine, such as an excavator, may be equipped with various types of buckets in order to perform operations at a work site. At times, such a machine may be equipped with a tilt bucket in order to enable those operations for which a tilt bucket may be intended. For example, such operations may include ditch cleaning, sloping a surface, grading, and various types of finishing work. The level of performance achieved by an operator using an excavator or other machine with a tilt bucket may depend, at least partially, on one or more parameters of the bucket, and the tilt mechanism associated with the bucket. Using one particular bucket may provide a level of performance that significantly differs from the level achieved while performing similar operations using a different bucket that has one or more different parameters. In addition, operator visibility of the bucket as it engages material may be affected significantly by the particular tilt mechanism necessarily associated with a tilt bucket.
An exemplary machine bucket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,350 to Folkerts that issued on Jun. 19, 2012 (the '350 patent). Specifically, the '350 patent describes a bucket that includes various parameters designed to enhance the performance of the bucket. The '350 patent discloses various angle values and dimensional ratios intended to improve an operator's visibility and improve the ease with which material may enter the bucket or be dumped from the bucket, for example.
Although the bucket of the '350 patent performs well in general applications, there still is room for improvement. For example, the '350 patent does not address situations that may occur when using a tilt bucket that is designed to pivot, or tilt, from side to side for various operations that may require such a bucket. While the parameters of the bucket of the '350 patent may offer an advantage over other buckets designed for operation about one axis, they may not sufficiently enhance operator visibility where the tilting structure associated with a tilt bucket, designed for operation about more than one axis, must be mounted adjacent the bucket.
The tilt bucket profile and front structure of the present disclosure solve one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.